Study set on North Atlantic right whales

A three-week study of North Atlantic right whales next month off Cape Cod will provide researchers with more information about the whales' diving and foraging behavior, genetics, vocalizations and the composition of their population.

Autonomous gliders, underwater robots of sorts, will also be tested to determine their feasibility for remote acoustic surveys in the future.

The whale survey, undertaken annually by the Woods Hole Laboratory of NOAA's Fisheries Service, will include shipboard and aerial observations, measurements of environmental conditions and zooplankton sampling tows to collect copepods, the primary prey of North Atlantic right whales.